Paulus Diaconus: două poeme ermetice dedicate Sfântului Benedict
Paul the Deacon: Two Hermetic Poems Dedicated to Saint Benedict

Summary/Abstract: It is impossible to understand or translate the two poems that Paul the Deacon dedicates to Saint Benedict – which he inserts in his Historia Langobardorum, I, 26 – without consulting, in parallel, the source (indicated by the author himself: Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi, II, 1–38). Beyond the formalism imposed by the metrical cadence and by an almost mechanical use of certain stylistic devices, the author’s visible intention is to render an entire episode within a single distich. This involves a remarkable synthesizing effort that annuls all details: facts are rendered only through their most specific aspects; all additions are considered superfluous, thus being eliminated. The hermetism of these poems is a consequence of the author’s specific target-public: educated people, who were familiar with the theme or who could access the source easily.

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